Renewable Composites for

Automotive Applications February 2013

Alex Baltazar, Ph.D.

Product & Process Development

Edmonton, Alberta

About MAGNA

We are a global supplier of automotive systems

with design, engineering and manufacturing

capabilities

February 2013 2

Partnership

February 2013 3

• In 2012, we partnered with the following

organizations in an initiative to develop

high performance polymer composites

for high-volume automotive applications

using renewable fibers

• The government of Alberta, through

Alberta Innovates-Bio Solutions, joined

the Centre for Research & Innovation in

the Bio-economy (CRIBE) in supporting

this important project

• The technology developed will be the

result of collaborative efforts together

with Alberta Innovates-Technology

Futures (AITF), the National Research

Council (NRC) and Alberta Bio-materials

Development Centre (ABDC)

Main Objectives

February 2013 4

• Address global requirements for cost and weight

reduction in automotive parts with high performance

polymer composites reinforced with renewable fibers

• Develop the product technology required to integrate

Canadian-sourced forestry products into exterior and

interior automotive applications

• Match or surpass the required mechanical and physical

properties offering a lower cost and lighter weight

option

• Improve fuel economy for consumers in a cost-

effective and sustainable solution

• Maintain and create jobs in the automotive and pulp

and paper industries with Canadian-sourced renewable

materials

• Preliminary results are being generated but no detailed

information available for disclosure at this time

February 2013

Renewable Composites for Automotive Applications

Disclosure or duplication without consent is prohibited 5

Natural Fiber: Definition

http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0709e/i0709e00.htm

Cotton Wool Yarn

Doesn’t work for others

Feathers Wood Fiber & Pulp

Works well for some fibers

“Naturally occurring fibres from plants and animals,

which can be easily processed into yarn for textiles”

Common Fund for Commodities

February 2013 6

Natural Fiber: Characteristics

• High aspect ratio (l/d)

• High tensile strength

• Flexibility

http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0709e/i0709e00.htm

d

L

d L

Wood Fiber

⌀: 30 µm

L: > 1,000 µm

Wood Pulp

⌀: > 100 µm

L: < 800 µm

February 2013 7

Fiber Characteristics

Natural Fiber Crops: Uses

Disclosure or duplication without consent is prohibited

• Natural Fiber Crops, a source of:

− Food – e.g. hemp seed

− Fibers – e.g. flax twine, rope

− Building material – e.g. wood

• Archeological evidence:

− Textiles – 4,000 years, China

− Wheat straw-clay bricks – 3,000 years

− Many others uses for native crops in

different parts of the World (Abaca in the

Philippines, etc.)

• First artificial fiber produced from

wood:

− France: > 120 years ago

Abaca

Hemp seeds

Clay brick

Artificial fiber Flax rope

February 2013 8

Natural Fiber Classification - Origin

Fibroin

Natural Fibres

Animal MineralVegetable

Wool &

Hair

SilkFeathers

Alpaca wool

Angora wool

Cashmere wool

Goat wool

Horse hair

Human hair

Merino woo

Lamb’s wool

Yak

Silkworm

Spider

Polutry

Wood Husk Fruit Seed Leaf & leaf

sheath

Bast Cane

Hardwood

Softwood

Barley

Maize

Wheat

Coir Cotton

Kapok

Milkweed

Abaca

Banana

Cabuja

Curaua

Date palm

Henequen

Ixtle

Pineapple

Sisal

Flax

Hemp

Jute

Kenaf

Mesta

Ramie

Roselle

Urena

Stalk

Maize

Oat

Rice

Rye

Wheat

Bagasse

Bamboo

Inosilicates

Wollastonite

Clay

Fibrous palygorskite

Fibrous halloysite

Winchite

Richterite

Chrysotile

Asbestosiform

SerpentineAmphibole

Actinolite

Amosite

Anthophyllite

Crocidolite

Tremolite

AsbestosEsparto

Miscanthus

Reed

Grass

&

reed

Keratines Collagen

Tendon

Cellulose and lignocellulosic

Root

Rhectophyllum

camerunense

Cellulose

Urochordates

Bacterial

Gluconacetobacter xylinus

(Acetobacter xylinum)

Rhizobium leguminosarum

S. Typhimurium

E. coli

Natural Fibres For Automotive Applications. Handbook of Natural Fibres Vol. 2. Processing and Applications (Ed. Ryszard M. Kozlowski), Woodhead Ltd., A. Baltazar, M. Sain, 2012

Vegetable Animal Mineral Bacterial

Cellulose & Lignocellulosic

Wood

Natural Fibers

February 2013 9

Reinforcing capability

Homogeneous quality

Semi-crystalline material

Surface properties can be modified

Vegetable Fibers: Material Advantages

• Lower Density (g cm-3)

− Glass Fiber: ~ 2.5

− Wood Fiber: ~ 1.5

• Lower Cost ($/lb)

− Glass Fiber: ~ $ 1.00

− Wood Fiber: ~ $ 0.50

− Lower Energy Consumption (MJ/kg)

− Glass Fiber Mat: ~ 55.0

− NF Mat: ~ 10.0

• Huge Availability

– Forestry, Marine, Agricultural Sources

– Estimated 3,000 BN t worldwide Natural Fibres For Automotive Applications. Handbook of Natural Fibres Vol. 2. Processing and Applications (Ed. Ryszard M. Kozlowski), Woodhead Ltd. 2012, Baltazar A, Sain M, 2012

Cosgrove, D. J. (2005). "Growth of the plant cell wall." Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 6(11): 850-861. http://www.nature.com/nrm/journal/v6/n11/fig_tab/nrm1746_F3.html

Cellulose chains are produced in the plant cell by terminal

complexes or rosettes in a packed or random fashion thus

forming crystalline and amorphous regions

Crystallite size and lattice perfection have an effect on the optical,

mechanical, thermal and chemical properties

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Coun

ts

Position / [2 Theta]

Wood fiber

Microcellulose

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Natural Fiber: First Vehicle Applications

2,600 BC – the Standard of Ur

shows four-wheel vehicles -

archeological evidence suggest

the use of wood

1962 – VEB Trabant used

cotton waste in a phenol resin

1941 - Ford Motor Company used

hemp, ramie, wood flour and other NF

in a phenol-formaldehyde resin

1885 – Daimler-Maybach motorcycle

used a solid wooden structure

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Natural Fiber: Vehicle Applications

1990s - Renewable & sustainable

fibers, coconut fibers in

backrests, head restraints, seat

cushions and sun visors

Flax, sisal and abaca fiber-

reinforced parts

F3 Racing Car - Made from recycled

water & juice bottles, renewable

polymers, carrot, flax and hemp

fibers, soy-based foam seats

February 2013 12

Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composite: Definition

• Fiber-reinforced polymer composites

encompass:

– fibrous phase embedded into a

– polymer matrix phase, and a

– fiber-matrix interface

– typically anisotropic:

• properties depend on the direction measured

– typically synergistic effect:

• properties are much greater than the individual

phases

VDI - Plastics in Automotive Engineering, Mannheim, 21. 2012; VDI – Plastics in the Automotive Engineering of the Future, 17. 2011; ALTECH NXT PP: Higher Temperature PP-based Composite Provides Nylon/PA-level Performance at Lower Weight & Economic Feasibility, SPE, ACC Conference, Sep. 13, 2012, ALBIS Group

Matrix

Fiber

February 2013 13

Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composite: Growth

• Use of fiber-reinforced polymer composites will continue to grow in the

automotive industry

VDI - Plastics in Automotive Engineering, Mannheim, 21. 2012; VDI – Plastics in the Automotive Engineering of the Future, 17. 2011; ALTECH NXT PP: Higher Temperature PP-based Composite Provides Nylon/PA-level Performance at Lower Weight & Economic Feasibility, SPE, ACC Conference, Sep. 13, 2012, ALBIS Group

Historical use of polymers

in a specific vehicle

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

260

kg

Year

1880s:

artificial fiber

1932: glass fibers

1950s: carbon

fiber

1970s:

aramid

1975:

UHMW PE

1990s:

natural

fibers

2000s:

cellulose nanofibers

nanocrystalline cellulose

higher performance

renewable

fibers

Evolution of reinforcing fibers

in polymer composites

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Why develop Natural Fiber Polymer Composites?

• Massive vehicular stock worldwide:

• Huge strain on the environment and

depletion of non-renewable resources

• Need to find new ways to increase

efficiency, renewability and

sustainability of current

automotive systems

and materials

• Natural fiber polymer composites

offer the potential to be:

VDI - Plastics in Automotive Engineering, Mannheim, 21. 2012; VDI – Plastics in the Automotive Engineering of the Future, 17. 2011; Dargay et al 2007 in Natural Fibres For Automotive Applications. Handbook of Natural Fibres Vol. 2. Processing and Applications (Ed. Ryszard M. Kozlowski), Woodhead Ltd. 2012, Baltazar A, Sain M, 2012

~10 % energy used by a car in its life span is required for its manufacturing

~10 % CO2 emissions produced by a car in its

lifespan come from vehicle manufacture

− Low cost

− Renewable

− Socio-economically sustainable

− Similar or better in performance

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Reasons for Change? Global Requirements

• Cost savings

• Increase vehicle fuel economy

• Reduce component weight

• Reduce demand of non-

renewables

• Increase recycling rate in ELVs

• High volume production

• Lower energy input

• Environmentally friendly

• Socio-economically sustainable

New forestry-based products must help achieve:

• Corporate Average Fuel Economy sets higher fuel efficiency targets:

– Now: 26.4 mpg

– 2025: 54.5 mpg

• CO2 targets – (EC) 443/2009 sets targets and penalties for CO2 emissions:

– 2015: 130 g CO2/km

– 2020: 95 g CO2/km

• ELV – (EC) 2000/53/EC increases the recovery rate of vehicles by 2015:

− 85 wt.% recyclable/reusable (min)

− 10 wt.% incineration (max)

− 5 wt.% landfill (max)

February 2013 16 Disclosure or duplication without consent is prohibited

Where Do We Start? - Some Technical Issues

Some Technical

Issues of Wood

Fibers

Low thermal resistance

Odor after processing

High moisture

absorption

Low fungi resistance

Difficulties in feeding &

metering

Low fiber-matrix

adhesion

Low fiber dispersion

Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram provides a good tool to find the root cause of the problem

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Together with AITF and R&D partners we work on:

Where Do We Start? - Sourcing & Testing

• Selecting the right wood fiber:

− Hardwood

− Softwood

− Wood Species

− Pulping Methods

− Availability on large scale

• Analytical Characterization:

− Thermal

− Physical

− Chemical

− Geometry

− Mechanical

− Volatile Organic Compounds

• Processing suitability:

− Health & Safety

− Feeding & Metering

− Processing Technologies

http://www.pelletstoves.ie/page26.php

Wood chips.

All the Wood Fibers were sourced in Canada

February 2013 18

We identified specific applications and processing technologies

suitable for wood fiber polymer composites:

Where Do We Start? - Processing

• Traditionally processing is similar to

glass-fibre polymer composites

• We developed a method that avoids

wood fiber thermal and mechanical

degradation that results in significantly

better composite performance

• The goal will be to increase percentages

of wood fiber for further optimized

performance

Many applications for

wood fiber polymer composites

can be found in Exterior and Interior parts

February 2013 19

Where Do We Start? - Metering & Feeding

• Wood Fibers have low bulk density

• Bulk density:

– ratio of mass to volume that includes interparticulate void volume

– is not a material property, it can change during material handling, transportation and storage

– depends on the spatial arrangement of particles; cohesive strength, geometry and other factors

– typically low bulk density materials produce erratic flow in conventional metering and feeding systems

• We developed a way for accurately metering & feeding WF that allows for reproducible results

“Tunneling” “Bridging”

Erratic Flow Examples

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Where Do We Start? - Dispersion in the Matrix

Full Partial

Polymer section without

fibers bonded to it

Dispersing WF in the polymer was achieved

successfully during the initial part of the R&D

through a synergistic effect

February 2013 21

Conclusions & Acknowledgements

• Global requirements for cost and

weight reduction of auto parts can be

addressed in part with high

performance polymer composites

reinforced with renewable fibers

• In certain applications, glass fiber can

be substituted with renewable fibers

while providing the required

mechanical and physical properties

and offering a lower cost and lighter

weight option

• This in turn will provide improved fuel

economy for consumers in a cost-

effective, sustainable solution

• This initiative will help create jobs in

the automotive and pulp and paper

industries

February 2013 22

The future is ours to make.

February 2013 23